


Plenty of Time

by gremlinquisitor (suchanadorer)



Series: Padi Hawke [6]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Padi Hawke (OC)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 22:03:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19237972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suchanadorer/pseuds/gremlinquisitor
Summary: For a prompt on tumblr: "Playing with their hair while their head’s in your lap."Being Prince is hard sometimes, but Hawke makes it easier.





	Plenty of Time

Sebastian understood from a young age that being Prince doesn’t always mean one gets to do whatever one wants. It was a fact he thought he picked up on better than his oldest brother, who would often wrestle him to the ground proclaiming that he should be allowed to win simply because someday, he would be Prince. But it only took one look at his father’s tired expression as he was called away from family dinners and quiet evenings to know that such an excuse could not possibly hold forever. 

Now both of them are gone and he sits on the throne in their place, wishing for his brother’s confidence in his duties. The day has been long and it is not over yet; he is promised to a dinner with two noble families who never fail to exhaust him in their ability to find finance and land purchasing a fascinating topic for discussion. The knowledge of what awaits him settles heavy on his shoulders as he makes his way out into the garden. 

Hawke is settled on the grass on the left side of the walkway, a blanket spread out and held down by a bowl of sliced citrus fruit and a small pile of books at opposite corners. Her attention is on the low, wide cherry trees that shade the walkway, and in her lap he sees her sketchbook, black lines filling the page as she works to recreate the sight before her.

He clears his throat and she looks up, her expression opening into a grin when she sees him, full of warmth and light that hits Sebastian full in the chest, stealing his breath for a moment. Her hair is piled loosely in a bun at the base of her neck, and there’s a smudge of charcoal on her cheek, and he is enchanted. 

She closes her book and moves to stand, but Sebastian waves a hand at her. “Please, don’t get up on my account. You look to be having a much more pleasant day than I am, and I’d hate to interrupt.”

Her head falls to the side and she sighs, setting the book down next to her. “It didn’t go how you’d hoped?”

He shakes his head, taking her hand when she stretches up to him and letting himself be pulled down onto the blanket, his legs all but giving out at the inviting prospect of spending time with her. “No,” he sighs. “It went how I expected.”

This morning’s meeting was with the Chantry. Rebuilt under Divine Victoria, they seek to regain some of the power they had in the city prior to the war and the return of the Inquisition, and while Sebastian is still a member of the faithful, he is not so eager to allow them to rise again, not without allowing the same for other faiths. The suggestion that Hahren Bralhen be allowed the same status as the Revered Mother was met with predictable arguments and disdain, but he is not yet prepared to give up the fight.

“You’re doing the right thing.” Hawke’s voice is soft but certain, and her hand on his back between his shoulders is a welcome distraction, landing warmer and heavier than the sunshine. “Do you have some time now?”

Sebastian nods, and when she leans in to slip her arm around his shoulders, he offers no resistance. She pulls, however, guiding him down onto the blanket, and at that he pauses.

“Hawke, you don’t have to--”

She shushes him and gives another gentle tug, and he lets himself be led, scooting and turning until he’s stretched out perpendicular to her, his head resting in her lap and his feet sticking off the end of the blanket into the grass. He folds his hands on his chest and toes off his shoes as he closes his eyes.

The sharp scent of grass fills his head as he breathes deep, focusing on all the things that he notices with his eyes closed. The breeze moves through the grass and the trees in a soft rush of sound, and he can hear Hawke breathing above him, feel it when she shifts underneath him, settling where she sits. The sunlight turns his vision red and his skin is warm with it, a welcome change from the cool and dark of the Keep. 

Sparks skip under his skin when Hawke combs her fingers back through his hair. He raises his brows but doesn’t open his eyes, smiling to show her that the gesture is appreciated and wanted. She continues, starting at his hairline and drawing her fingers as far back as she can, and with each stroke the tension and irritation of the day seem to fall from his shoulders and his heart.

There was a time when this would have been unthinkable, the very notion of being so close to her and finding such freedom in her touch would have set him fleeing, afraid of disappointing her or not trusting in his own control. How far they’ve come since then, that he can let himself melt into her this way, relaxed and fulfilled. He shivers at the brush of her fingers along the shell of his ear and feels it more than hears it when she huffs a quiet laugh. 

“Do you want me to stop?”

He shakes his head, relishing the way her nails drag on his scalp at the movement, and she continues in silence, with slow, deliberate movements that seem to pull all his troubles out of his mind and shed them onto the blanket beneath him. A bird chirps nearby. Sebastian crosses his legs at the ankles, settling deeper into the blanket and Hawke’s lap. He draws a breath that turns into a yawn that pulls at the muscles of his jaw, tight from trying to hold his tongue against the Revered Mother and her entourage.

“You can sleep if you want,” Hawke mumbles, and again Sebastian shakes his head. He knows he could; it would be the easiest thing in the world to drift off here, warm and safe, watched over by her, but that would mean leaving this moment, and there is no guarantee that what he dreams could be better than the reality he has around him now. 

Sebastian reaches out a hand, fumbling along the blanket near his head until Hawke obliges, setting her free hand in his. He gives her a little squeeze that she returns, and he smiles as affection blooms in his chest.

“Go with me to dinner later?” He asks, raising his eyebrows without opening his eyes. 

Hawke chuckles, twirling a lock of his hair softly in her fingers. “Misery loves company is it, then? Of course I’ll go with you, but you don’t have to go yet, do you?”

“No,” Sebastian sighs, taking another deep breath as the truth of his next words washes over him, as today, for now, the Prince can do exactly what he wants. “We have plenty of time.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for taking the time to read! Comments and kudos are always appreciated, and you can find more content here on AO3 and also [here on my tumblr!](http://gremlinquisitor.tumblr.com)


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